What's eating holes in my lily pads?

[havefun]

I know there are a lot of possible culprits but this has me stumped. Whatever it is it doesn't actually "eat" the hole, but rather, just "cuts" the hole. I find the middle pieces floating in the water. I'm almost positive it's not aphids because I don't see any. I know there is another bug that cuts a hole then lays its eggs on the underside of the leaf but I don't see any eggs. I've checked the underside of the leaves for weeks now but don't see anything crawling/chewing on them. I've gone out at night with a flashlight but didn't see anything. I've started putting mosquito dunks in, in the hopes that it will kill whatever this bug is.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[fluffyntex]

Now thats weird. Only time mine did anything like that was after a hailstorm hehe.

[Fluff]

That really does look like hail damage, any storms in your area? We just had a nice storm here, thankfully the trees over the pond saved my plants. But looking at the picture, some of the holes are not completely cut out and I don't know of anything that would just cut the leaves without eating them.

[plecoperson]

My boss was looking over my shoulder, and said "oh, that's hail"

[havefun]

It does look like hail but I am 100% positive it is/was not. I was keeping an eye on the leaves as they grew underwater and there were very few holes. As soon as they reached the surface then the holes would start appearing. They are very weird though, one of the pots is too close to the surface and the pads are actually growing 2 - 3 inches above the waters surface and they have no holes.
I have been able to slow it down though. I read somewhere that mosquito dunks will kill other larvae as well so I have been putting them in and I think it is working. I have a lot fewer holes now and quite a few leaves (on the waters surface) with none at all.
Hopefully whatever it is will die out this winter and I won't have to deal with it next year!

[kimo]

You don't live close by to the Amazon do you ? Amazonian leaf cutter ants would cut holes something like that... but I haven't heard of anything in the US that does it that's waterborne.

[havefun]

Hehe, nope.
Kinda funny/related story. While looking online trying to figure out what could be making them I found information on another water bug...
My parents have a cabin on a lake in northern Wisconsin. While out on the water I would occasionally see what I thought was a walking stick that had gotten blown into the water and was drowning. So naturally I would pick them up and put them on land to "save" them. Well, it turns out they are actually "water scorpions" and can bite! Lets just say I won't be "saving" anymore of them.

[havefun]

Now I think I may have really figured it out. The first year we had the pond up the kids wanted to put in a small bluegill they caught at another "real" pond. He has grown quite a bit and this year he has been "smacking" (it makes a really loud noise) the underside of the lily pads. I thought he was eating bugs but now I'm not so sure he isn't the one putting the holes in.

[jay942942]

Species of insect larvae like the Homophoberia cristata and Synclita obliteralis often feed on waterlily leaves.

[vegaracer1]

My koi did this to my lilies.Destroyed them bit by bit and then left the bulb uprooted and floating in the tank.